Mrs. Hu Tu looked Xu Miyu up and down and said, "Xiao Xu, it's been quite a while since I last saw you in person. Have you started working? No wonder you haven't been coming to my house yourself lately—you've been sending your cousin to deliver the braised beef every so often. At first, when they said you were busy, I thought it was just an excuse. But now I see you really have been busy! Oh, Xiao Xu, who would have thought you were busy because you've become a career woman! Look at you—since you started working, your whole aura has changed. You look so spirited and energetic! Thank you for the braised beef, Xiao Xu. Don't worry, I'll remind my old Hu to keep taking good care of your Nie Yucheng. Remember to drop by when you have time—you can give me a massage while you're at it. To be honest, I really miss your massage skills!"
As Xu Miyu listened to Mrs. Hu Tu's uninterrupted monologue, she felt more and more that something wasn't quite right.
After Mrs. Hu Tu finally paused to catch her breath, Xu Miyu tentatively asked, "Mrs. Hu, are you sure the braised beef still tastes like my cooking?"
"Of course!" Mrs. Hu Tu patted Xu Miyu's shoulder and said, "Your braised beef has a unique delicacy in color, aroma, and flavor. The taste has never changed—it's absolutely delicious!"
Xu Miyu thought quickly and asked, "Mrs. Hu, you just said that every so often, my cousin delivers the braised beef I made to you?"
Mrs. Hu Tu nodded. "Yes, your cousin. Honestly, you really shouldn't have her deliver it anymore—her belly has been getting bigger and bigger lately. Your job probably doesn't require you to work on Saturdays and Sundays, right? Why not come over on your day off instead? Let your cousin rest—it's not easy for her to be running around with a big belly."
Xu Miyu grew increasingly uneasy and asked, "Did this 'cousin' tell you her name?"
Mrs. Hu Tu replied, "I think it was something like Lu Zhenzhen? Oh, I didn't bother to remember your cousin's name. Besides delivering the meat, she doesn't do anything else—she can't even give me a massage—so I didn't bother remembering her. Xiao Xu, why don't you deliver it yourself next time? To be honest, I really miss your massages. Oh, by the way, my friend is waiting for me by the pool, so I can't chat anymore. Try to come yourself this weekend, okay? Don't worry—if you give me a good massage, I'll make sure Old Hu gives your Nie Yucheng a big raise. Look how he got promoted to vice president before—that was all thanks to you! Don't forget—come give me a massage this weekend. Bye!"
As Xu Miyu watched Mrs. Hu Tu walk away after her self-absorbed, presumptuous monologue, the thought of clarifying that she wouldn't be going to her house this weekend flickered and died.
In the past, for Nie Yucheng's sake, she never dared to say no to any of Mrs. Hu Tu's demands, afraid of displeasing the woman. If she made her unhappy, it might affect Nie Yucheng's career.
But now, why should she worry so much? Let Mrs. Hu Tu wait—wait for a massage appointment that would never happen. If she grew unhappy and threw a tantrum, it wouldn't affect Xu Miyu one bit.Clenching her fists, she thought that what she needed to figure out most right now was how her shameless, pregnant "cousin" managed to continue sending the braised beef she personally made to Mrs. Hu Tu's family.
During a lull, Xu Miyu carefully pondered Mrs. Hu Tu's words and what they truly meant.
She listed out every possible factor she could think of—those anomalies compared to the past that felt off. Stringing them together, she gradually began to piece together a chain of cause and effect.
The first thing that struck her as odd was how, ever since her divorce, her sister-in-law and her husband had suddenly developed a craving for her braised beef. Every so often, they would ask her to come over and make a large pot of it.
Sometimes, their conversations would slip in remarks that had seemed inexplicable to her at the time.
For instance, the first time she went to help her sister-in-law and her husband make stewed meat, after she finished a large pot, the husband couldn't resist grabbing a piece to eat. The sister-in-law stopped him, and he retorted unhappily, "What's the harm in having one piece? It won't mess up your plans!" The sister-in-law then glared at him and said, "Is it just my plans you're messing up? You're messing up our shared business." (33)
Another time, when she went to her sister-in-law's house to make stewed meat, she mentioned in advance that she wanted to take some of the braised beef home with her. But her sister-in-law immediately refused, saying, "No, the meat is carefully measured and portioned." (42)
If she connected those previously baffling remarks with what Mrs. Hu Tu had said today, Xu Miyu felt she had a rough idea of what was going on—
If she wasn't mistaken, it was probably Nie Yucheng, in order to maintain his good impression and favored status with Hu Tu and Mrs. Hu Tu, ensuring they could continuously enjoy their beloved braised beef. So, he hadn't let Hu Tu and Mrs. Hu Tu know that he was already divorced.
Because his new wife, let alone making braised beef, couldn't even manage simple home-cooked meals.
And although they couldn't make the braised beef themselves, that didn't stop them from coming up with a crooked scheme to still get their hands on the braised beef made by Xu Miyu herself—
Ever since her divorce, the braised beef that her sister-in-law and her husband had her make at their house probably wasn't for their own consumption. Instead, after she left, they would take that braised beef and offer it to Nie Yucheng and Lu Zhenzhen. Then, Lu Zhenzhen would pretend to be her cousin, claiming that her cousin was too busy, so she, as the cousin, was delivering the stewed meat to Mrs. Hu Tu on her behalf.
Thinking this far, Xu Miyu almost let out a cold laugh at the absurdity of the cause and effect.
Her ex-husband, whom she had once loved, had actually joined forces with that woman who had usurped her place as the mistress, along with her sister-in-law and her husband, to trick her into continuing to make braised beef for them.
When she, unaware, dragged her tired body to her sister-in-law's house on her only days off to make braised beef, were they hiding in the shadows, laughing at her for being a fool?
How utterly ridiculous. Even after the divorce, they still had to squeeze every last bit of use out of her. Nie Yucheng and Lu Zhenzhen, how could they have the nerve to exploit her like this and then flaunt it in her face? Had they completely lost their sense of shame as human beings?And her own elder sister, to protect her own job, did not hesitate to deceive her own sister, curry favor with the cheating husband and the mistress who took her place, offering up her own sister as cheap labor! Her own family, for their own interests, were willing to compromise with those who had made her sister miserable, then joined forces with them to deceive and exploit her.
Xu Miyu felt that all of them—her former husband, her blood-related sister, the brother-in-law she had called family for ten years, and that unscrupulous mistress who clawed her way up—were utterly shameless!
They were not like family; they were like heartless vampires. Nie Yucheng, who had been her husband for six years, was no real man either—even after the divorce, he still exploited his ex-wife, enjoying the residual benefits she brought him. As for Lu Zhenzhen, how on earth did she have the nerve to show up at Hu Tu’s house with a food container and introduce herself to Mrs. Hu Tu as Xu Miyu’s cousin?
Xu Miyu clenched her fists, her heart filled with the fury of betrayal and manipulation.
Before, she had known nothing, treated like an easy-to-control fool by this united front. But now that she had pieced everything together, she would never again allow these heartless, shameless people to use her. She would no longer let them profit by exploiting her.
As luck would have it, the very next day, her elder sister called again, demanding that Xu Miyu come over to make stewed meat. She had calculated Xu Miyu’s day off precisely and made the request with no courtesy or room for refusal.
Xu Miyu had been waiting for this call from Xu Mizi. There were things she needed to make clear to her sister.
She suspected there was still an information gap between Mrs. Hu Tu and her elder sister. Xu Mizi—or rather, Nie Yucheng and Lu Zhenzhen behind her—didn’t yet know that their deceitful alliance had been exposed by Xu Miyu. Their scheme to keep coaxing her into making stewed dishes to please the Hu Tu couple was about to fall apart.
Over the phone, Xu Miyu clearly and firmly rejected Xu Mizi’s demand, which had been presented as if it were only natural.
Xu Mizi immediately erupted, her voice rising to a pitch that could crack the receiver.
“Third Sister, so you’ve just transferred to the front desk—but isn’t that just a job standing around and greeting guests? How has it made you so full of yourself? You won’t even listen to me now? You’ve really gotten above yourself! I’m asking you one more time: are you coming tomorrow to make stewed meat or not?”
Unfazed by her outburst, Xu Miyu repeated her decision calmly and clearly: “No.” After a deliberate pause, she added with firm emphasis, “Not just tomorrow—from now on, I will never let you trick me into being your cheap labor again.”
Xu Mizi’s temper, a true inheritance from Jiao Xiumei, flared up even more intensely. She roared at Xu Miyu, “Xu Miyu, do you even hear the nonsense you’re spouting? Do you still see me as your own sister? Is that any way to talk to family? Have you lost all sense of kinship?”
Xu Miyu couldn’t help but laugh at the question.
She wondered how Xu Mizi had the nerve to ask such things. Weren’t those words far more fitting when applied to Xu Mizi herself?"Alright, Xu Mizi, let me ask you something," Xu Miyu's tone was thick with sarcasm. "Have you ever treated me as your own sister? You deceived and used me to curry favor with my ex-husband and his mistress, just to protect your and your husband's jobs. Is this how you treat your own sister? Is this what you call human kindness? Hah, this isn't human kindness—it's downright madness."
Xu Mizi was instantly silenced on the other end. She never expected that someone as meek and seemingly foolish as Xu Miyu would see through the scheme, and even dare to confront her so directly.
This wasn't the Xu Miyu she knew, and the sudden confrontation left her speechless.
Xu Miyu let out a long sigh and asked mockingly, "Dear elder sister, I'd like to ask you: when you decided to collaborate with my ex-husband and his mistress to deceive me, did it ever cross your mind that I might be heartbroken when I found out the truth?"
Elder sister Xu Mizi's phone was snatched by her husband. He immediately began twisting the facts: "You should consider our situation too! We had no choice—do you think we wanted this? We're just trying to keep our jobs. If you hadn't insisted on divorcing, the mistress wouldn't have taken your place, and we wouldn't be forced to cooperate with them. Ultimately, isn't this your own fault?"
Listening to her brother-in-law's absurd reasoning, Xu Miyu was so angry she laughed coldly.
She took a deep breath, telling herself not to shrink back, to be brave, and not revert to the Xu Miyu who couldn't say "no." She had to learn to be a Xu Miyu who no longer tolerated injustice.
"Before spouting such nonsense, why don't you recall how you got your job in the first place? Wasn't it arranged through my marriage to Nie Yucheng? Where was your gratitude when I helped you find work? And now you blame me for your potential job loss because I divorced? Brother-in-law, if a man lives off others as shamelessly as you do, he might as well be livestock."
After a moment's processing, the brother-in-law exploded: "Who are you calling worse than animals? Have you grown a backbone? Don't think I won't have your sister teach you a lesson!"
"Don't you think that since I helped you get your jobs, I can just as easily make you lose them?" Xu Miyu shot back fearlessly, standing her ground.
The brother-in-law had never seen Xu Miyu confront him so boldly before and was momentarily at a loss. He called out Xu Mizi's name, and she snapped at him irritably, "Enough! Shut up! Do you want to keep provoking her until she actually goes through with it and gets us fired?"
"But if she doesn't come to make the stewed meat, we'll offend Nie Yucheng and Lu Zhenzhen, and we'll lose our jobs anyway!"
The elder sister yelled at him, "What else can we do? I told you this would come out eventually. Now that she refuses, are you going to force her at gunpoint?" She paused to catch her breath, grabbed the phone, and said to Xu Miyu, "Fine, third sister, if you won't come, you won't come. I can't force you. But don't you dare feel guilty when we end up unemployed because of you."
Xu Miyu was infuriated by the passive-aggressive remark. She retorted directly to Xu Mizi, "Do you really not feel any shame when you say things like that? Fine, since you insist, when the day comes that you're jobless, I'll set off firecrackers to celebrate properly for you."After saying that, she immediately hung up the phone, directly added Xu Mizi’s number to the blacklist, then went into her contacts and blocked Sister-in-law’s number as well.
Putting away her phone, she tried hard to calm her emotions.
From beginning to end, Xu Mizi and the others had not uttered a single word of "sorry" to her.
Until the very last moment, they were still blaming others and refusing to reflect on themselves.
Xu Miyu felt a chill in her heart.
It was a pity that she had once wanted to help Xu Mizi awaken as well. But now, it seemed it was too late. Xu Mizi had clearly become another Jiao Xiumei—an extremely selfish middle-aged woman.
A few days after Xu Miyu rejected Xu Mizi, Mrs. Hu Tu came to the hotel again.
Xu Miyu wasn’t at the front desk when she arrived; she had been summoned to the top floor to help deliver a newly arrived express document.
When she returned to the front desk, the receptionist Lu Xiaoyan told Xu Miyu, "A guest was looking for you just now—a lady whose VIP card is under the name Hu Tu. She’s at the pool now and said you should go find her directly when you return."
Lu Xiaoyan was Ke Wenxue’s gossip buddy, and out of consideration for Ke Wenxue, she was one of the friendlier and more polite people in the front office toward Xu Miyu.
From the description, Xu Miyu knew it must be Mrs. Hu Tu looking for her.
She thanked Lu Xiaoyan and went to the pool area to find her.
When she found her, Mrs. Hu Tu was lying on a lounge chair in a bikini, sipping a cocktail through a straw.
Seeing Xu Miyu, she immediately sat up. Strangely, the first expression that spread across her face wasn’t a greeting smile but undisguised displeasure.
"Oh, Xiao Xu, what’s going on with you? Didn’t we agree last time that you’d come to my house over the weekend to chat with me and give me a massage? I even canceled my mahjong game with my friends and waited for you all day, but you never showed up. If you couldn’t make it, you should’ve at least called me in advance to let me know. But you didn’t say anything ahead of time. Fine, so I tried calling you, and what happened? Your phone was off! Tell me, how can you handle things like this?"
She paused briefly, not giving Xu Miyu a chance to interject. Holding her cocktail glass in one hand and gesturing animatedly with the other, she continued with some irritation, "And another thing, Xiao Xu, last week we finished all the braised beef at home. Your cousin or you should’ve come to deliver more by now, but no one showed up. Do you have any idea how unhappy I am about this? You can’t behave like this, you know. Old Hu and I helped get your Nie Yucheng promoted to vice president, and now that you’ve achieved that goal, you just ignore me? No more massages, no more stewed meat—this isn’t right! This is what you call ingratitude!"
Xu Miyu watched as Mrs. Hu Tu sat there, fluttering her long-nailed fingers and gesturing nonstop while she went on and on. Since it was work hours and part of her duty, she had to patiently maintain a smile and listen with proper composure.
Finally, Mrs. Hu Tu’s tirade came to a pause.
Xu Miyu smiled and said to her, "Mrs. Hu, I understand your displeasure, but if you’re directing it at me, you’ve got the wrong person. I no longer have any obligation or personal ties to do things like visiting your home to give massages or deliver stewed meat."Xu Miyu no longer wanted to be a pushover who always left room for others while losing her own footing.
She directly told Mrs. Hu Tu, who was already stunned, an even more shocking piece of news: "Mrs. Hu, Nie Yucheng and I are already divorced because he cheated on me. Lu Zhenzhen isn't any cousin of mine—she's the one Nie Yucheng had an affair with. In fact, I even helped her before she started coveting my ex-husband."
After pausing to give Mrs. Hu Tu a moment to process this, Xu Miyu continued: "Now that Nie Yucheng and I are divorced, I have no obligation or affection left to maintain his relationship with his superiors for him. So the braised dishes you've been enjoying recently weren't made by me willingly—Nie Yucheng and Lu Zhenzhen teamed up to deceive someone I trust into tricking me into making them. Now that I've uncovered their scheme, there will be no more braised beef from now on."
"I used to make braised dishes for you, give you massages, and try to please you—all for Nie Yucheng's career prospects. But after how shamelessly he's treated me, I won't consider his interests anymore. I'm telling you this not for any other reason, but just so you know the truth. I also want to make it clear that making braised dishes and giving you massages were never things I was supposed to do in the first place. So your accusations of ingratitude have nothing to do with me. If you're unhappy, you should take it up directly with Lu Zhenzhen and Nie Yucheng—the ones who've been lying and scheming in the middle of all this."
After hearing this whole story, Mrs. Hu Tu was utterly dumbfounded. Even the cocktail glass she held elegantly between her fingers tilted, spilling the brightly colored liquid inside.
Mrs. Hu Tu quickly righted the glass, complained, and wiped the cocktail that had dripped onto her leg. When she looked up again, what she said to Xu Miyu was: "Oh, so that's how it is. You and little Nie are already divorced. Oh, little Xu, then what am I going to do if I want to eat braised dishes in the future?"
Xu Miyu was stunned for a second, then found it ridiculous.
Indeed, human sorrows and joys don't connect. In Mrs. Hu Tu's eyes, whether Xu Miyu had been cheated on, whether she'd been deceived by her ex-husband and his mistress—none of that mattered. The most important thing to Mrs. Hu Tu was that the scheme had been exposed, and she wouldn't get to eat braised dishes anymore. What was she going to do?
Xu Miyu smiled and seriously suggested to Mrs. Hu Tu: "You can have Lu Zhenzhen practice her skills and make them for you herself. If she doesn't make them well and it makes you angry to eat them, then you might as well have Nie Yucheng step down from his vice president position to vent your frustration. Anyway, from now on, matters between you will have to be resolved among yourselves. None of it has anything to do with me anymore."
She didn't want to face Mrs. Hu Tu with a humble attitude anymore. When she straightened her chest to speak to the other woman, she found it felt truly satisfying and liberating.
"Sorry, Mrs. Hu, I have work to do. I need to get busy. Goodbye." After saying this, she took her leave gracefully. Then she turned and walked back to the hotel lobby with her back straight.
She was gradually awakening the self-respect and dignity that had long lain dormant within her, arming herself with them, slowly becoming someone who could walk with her back straight.
*On the large second-floor terrace above the swimming pool, Ji Feng sat as usual in the open-air booth outside the tearoom, sipping tea and basking in the sun.
The tea he sipped still tasted rough and rather unpleasant, while the various sounds reaching his ears remained fragmented and disjointed, as always.
But then, suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.
Ji Feng instinctively stood up, teacup in hand, and moved closer to the terrace railing. Leaning against the balustrade, he looked down at the swimming pool and confirmed that the familiar voice indeed belonged to Xu Miyu.
From what he could hear, she seemed to be confronting her ex-husband’s boss’s wife—firm yet composed, her retorts measured and effective.
He held the teacup, feeling almost dazed. Just a few months ago, this woman had spoken with such timidity and meekness—her back never straight, always hunched over with lowered head and slumped shoulders, never daring to argue with anyone.
Now she lifted her face and dared to express refusal directly to others.
Compared to when he first met her, she had truly transformed.
It suddenly occurred to him—how much of her change was the result of his guidance?
At this thought, he couldn't help but curl his lips into a faint smile. Watching her straight, confident back as she walked away, he raised the teacup and took a sip.
Returning to the booth, he placed the empty teacup on the table and tapped the surface with his fingers.
Xue Rui, who had been dozing off with his face propped in his hand, was jolted awake by the sound. He blinked groggily, gathered his wits, and quickly picked up the teapot to refill Ji Feng's cup.
As he poured, he said, "That's strange—I thought I just heard Mi Yu's voice. Was I dreaming just now?"
Ji Feng glanced at him sideways, his gaze as if looking at a fool.
Xue Rui felt himself shrinking under that stare and hurriedly begged Ji Feng to stop looking.
"Boss, when your eyes carry that mix of disdain and mockery, it feels like you could just erase a person."
He tried to change the subject: "Boss, I really think I heard Mi Yu's voice just now."
Ji Feng raised an eyebrow. "And then?"
Well, in his half-asleep state, it seemed like someone had immediately gotten up and rushed forward to listen...
...Hah.
When Xu Miyu went to the Food and Beverage Department to coordinate the reception and dining arrangements for the tour group, she unexpectedly heard that the newly hired Chef Xu had scalded his arm and needed two days off.
At first, she didn't think much of it. It was only after finishing all the necessary coordination tasks that she realized—this Chef Xu was the one Xue Rui had poached with a high salary for Ji Feng.
So, with Chef Xu taking two days off due to his injury, that meant Ji Feng would have nothing to eat for the next two days.
Originally, whether he had food or not had little to do with her.
But earlier, after her direct conversation with Madam Hu Tu, she had felt her own transformation.
She really liked this changed version of herself. And she knew that this change was thanks to Ji Feng. No matter how difficult his personality was to decipher, it was he who had awakened her. Whether his initial promotion of her was out of goodwill or ulterior motives, it was he who had given her the opportunity to grow.
So, during these two days when he would have nothing to eat, she thought she might step in to fill Chef Xu's role, as a small gesture of gratitude.
After all, cooking had never been difficult for her—it was just a simple favor.
Besides, she could prepare two days' worth of food all at once, so she wouldn't have to go up and cook every meal. That way, she could maintain an appropriate distance from him.
Having thought it through, Xu Miyu went straight to the market after work to buy meat, vegetables, and ingredients. Back at the dormitory that evening, she borrowed a pot from the security lady and carefully braised a pot of beef. After some consideration, she realized Ji Feng couldn't possibly eat the same dish for three meals a day.
So, she made a few more home-style dishes.
With so much to cook, she worked late into the night before finally finishing everything.
Having stayed up so late, when she woke up the next morning, she saw two prominent dark circles under her eyes. Even with foundation applied, they were still visible.She thought, forget it—at her age and with her divorce history, she was long past relying on looks to attract anyone. So she boldly went to work with two dark circles under her eyes. She packed all the food she had stayed up late cooking into lunch boxes and brought them to the hotel.
Ever since she was transferred to the front office as the front desk supervisor, whenever couriers delivered documents requiring signature from the top floor, it had become her responsibility to sign for them and personally deliver them upstairs.
Previously, Xue Rui would come down to collect these documents. After Xu Miyu was transferred to the front office, Xue Rui begged her to take over this task for him. Seeing his pleading expression—like an innocent, harmless big dog—Xu Miyu’s heart softened, and she agreed. Ji Feng turned a blind eye, neither approving nor objecting. So Xu Miyu began signing for and delivering the documents in Xue Rui’s place.
Ji Feng was extremely busy, with documents requiring his review arriving almost daily. Thus, Xu Miyu found herself going up to the top floor nearly every day.
Most of the time, she didn’t enter the room. She would stand outside, call Xue Rui out, and hand the documents to him.
But today, when Xu Miyu went upstairs to deliver the documents, she entered the suite carrying the lunch boxes.
She first handed the documents to Xue Rui.
Xue Rui immediately shot her a warning look, quickly pulling her aside and pointing toward Ji Feng, who was sitting on the sofa, angrily talking on the phone.
“He’s in a foul mood today. Don’t go near him—you might get caught in the crossfire!” Xue Rui whispered urgently to Xu Miyu. “Just give me the documents, Mi Yu, and make a quick escape.”
Xu Miyu listened as Ji Feng berated the person on the other end of the line for being careless, harshly asking if their brain had been stolen along with their intelligence. She could tell he was truly irritable.
She quietly asked Xue Rui, “What’s wrong with President Ji? Who upset him?”
Xue Rui pouted. “Who else? The chef I went through so much trouble to hire! He took two days off, so President Ji barely ate last night and hardly anything this morning. When he’s hungry, his temper flares up. My day has been like walking on thin ice!”
After hearing his complaint, Xu Miyu smiled and lifted the lunch box in her hand. “I’m here to save you!”
Xue Rui’s eyes widened instantly, and he stomped his feet excitedly. “Oh my god, Mi Yu, are you a living bodhisattva?!”
From the sofa, Ji Feng’s voice rang out. He had finished his call and was now leaning back, head tilted up and eyes closed, looking somewhat despondent. He called out to Xue Rui, instructing, “Call my family doctor and have him come immediately to give me a glucose injection.”
Ji Feng heard Xue Rui say “Okay,” but after a moment, he noticed Xue Rui hadn’t made the call.
Hunger made him especially irritable and impatient. He was about to lose his temper at Xue Rui, but as he opened his eyes, he unexpectedly saw Xu Miyu standing in front of him, holding a lunch box.
Somehow, the anger that was about to erupt dissipated in an instant.
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